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A Spanish village has been painted blue for the launch of The Smurfs movie.

The little town of Juzcar in Spain has been painted blue for the Smurf movie (Pic: Reuters)

Homes, businesses and even a church in Juzcar, Andalucia, have been retouched to celebrate the CGI film, which stars singer Katy Perry as Smurfette.

It took 4,200 litres of paint to cover real life Smurf Village and 12 unemployed locals donned brushes to help out.

The stunt needed special approval from the Andalusian government and also the local bishop, but all parties involved including the 250 inhabitants seem to be having a laugh.

David Fernandez Tirado the mayor of Juzcar is even saying people have started calling him ‘Papa Smurf’.Making the jump to UK movie theatres in August, The Smurf movie sees characters running around in New York’s central park after they were chased from their own world and into ours.

The little blue people were first broadcast on TV in 1981, nearly 30 years after Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford’s had begun drawing them in comic strips in 1958.